Liverpool blanked for a second successive match in their 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Arne Slot’s side had gone an entire calendar year in the Premier League without failing to score in a game, a run that extended across 44 games, prior to a 3-0 loss to Manchester City ahead of the international break.
The Reds, however, are now goalless in their last two outings.
The loss against Sean Dyche’s Forest team was their sixth of the season in the English top-flight. The champions have now lost as many games as they’ve won, despite starting the campaign with five successive wins.
Slot has a lot of problems to solve.
Liverpool are struggling in open-play to defend.
They’re conceding set piece goals on a weekly basis. Only four teams (Leeds, Burnley, West Ham United and Wolves) have conceded more goals than their 20 in the Premier League and those four teams make up the bottom four in the English top flight this term.
To really hammer this point home, nine teams in the league have a lower Expected Goals conceded total (15.5).
In attack, things aren’t going to plan either.
The Reds rank eighth for goals scored (1.5), fifth for expected goals (19.8) and fifth for big chances created (34). Last season, Slot’s men ranked first for all three of those metrics.
Having spent over £250million on attacking reinforcements this summer, this was supposed to be an area of strength for the champions. Yet people are now querying the business done by Richard Hughes.
Florian Wirtz has two assists this term but both arrived in the Champions League for the Reds. Hugo Ekitike started his Liverpool career in fine form but is now without a goal in the Premier League since September 20th.
However, the biggest concern for Liverpool might be their most expensive signing ever.
The 26-year-old was at the centre of a summer saga. He refused to return to Newcastle but only signed for Liverpool on deadline day. His pre-season was a bit of a shambles and, as a result, Slot had to get him up to speed while managing his minutes and trying to navigate a busy period.
His only goal so far for the 2024/25 Premier League champions arrived in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton.
He started his first match in a month over the weekend against Nottingham Forest and it was another underwhelming showing.
The Sweden international is now the first player to lose each of his first four top-flight league starts for Liverpool since Percy Saul in October 1906.
Alexander Isak is the first player to lose each of his first 4 top-flight league starts for Liverpool since Percy Saul in October 1906. #LFC
— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) November 22, 2025
The £125million summer signing was on the pitch for 68 minutes against Forest but he was barely involved.
Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail claimed that “playing with Isak is like playing with 10 men. He is a passenger. The Swede looks like an academy kid drafted into a men's game, fighting against the tide.”
Chris Bascombe of the Daily Telegraph went as far to say Darwin Nunez, the much-maligned former No9, was better than the man currently in possession of the No9 jersey at Anfield.
“Núñez lacked general poise and finesse, but flawed as he was you could never take your eyes off him. You would have struggled to notice Isak was on the pitch on Saturday until his number was up.
"A collective effort has gone into making Isak resemble Christian Benteke in a Liverpool shirt more than Núñez, or the gold standard for recent Liverpool 9s, Roberto Firmino.”
The Reds had 74% of the ball against Forest and had a total of 21 shots. Isak, though, had just one attempt on goal. He had just 14 touches and attempted just seven passes.
For comparison, Mohamed Salah attempted 50 passes and Cody Gakpo, the man on the left for the Reds, tried to find a teammate with 28 passes. Everyone but Isak seemed to be involved for the hosts.
Without the ball, he struggled too, losing all seven of his attempted duels.
This has been a pattern all season though. Across his 321 minutes in the Premier League, Isak has managed just seven shots and only one of those has been on target.
His shot average has dropped from 3.5 during his final season with Newcastle to 1.96 this time around. As a result his expected goals per 90 average has halved, down at 0.32 from the 0.66 he posted last term.
Simply put, Isak isn’t a threat for Liverpool.
Slot has taken one of the most prolific attackers in Europe over the past two seasons and made him a non-entity in this current set-up.
Yes, injuries haven’t helped his adaptation period and he’s still getting up to speed with things but the ball isn’t falling for him and that is an issue with the system rather than the player.
You can’t spend a British record fee on a striker and then stop supplying them with ammunition.
Until the Reds figure out a way to get their most expensive purchase ever involved in key areas, he’s going to look like a waste of money.
Through no fault of his own though.
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